


Black Cat

by the_savage_daughter_0627



Series: Hauntober 2020 [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Halloween, Humor, Katara (Avatar)-centric, October Prompt Challenge, One Shot, POV Katara (Avatar), POV Zuko (Avatar), Romance, Short One Shot, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Zuko (Avatar)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27096469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_savage_daughter_0627/pseuds/the_savage_daughter_0627
Summary: Katara brings home a stray kitten on Halloween, and Zuko is NOT having it.Written for the Hauntober prompt "black cat" from over on Tumblr.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Hauntober 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973365
Comments: 10
Kudos: 112





	Black Cat

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to FireLadyFae/LadyFaePhillips for her work on this silly one-shot!
> 
> I hope it makes you guys laugh because I know I did when I wrote it xD

“Come on, Zuko. Look at his cute little face! How can you say no to  _ that face? _ ”

Katara held the small black kitten up higher, her blue eyes big and wide and her mouth set in a hopeful pout. The small thing in her hands wiggled and mewled. 

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Katara, we do  _ not  _ need a cat. A  _ kitten.  _ Kittens are destructive little things. He’s going to scratch up the furniture—”

“Not if we get him a scratching post.”

“He’s going to tear up the toilet paper—”

“Only if we don’t give him any toys.”

“He’ll get hair  _ everywhere— _ ”

“That’s just one of the joys of having pets!”

“And I’m  _ not  _ cleaning a litter box!”

Katara cuddled the cat against her chest and stroked its head. “You won’t have to. I will.” Her pleading pout deepened.

Zuko sighed in exasperation before he looked back at his girlfriend and the small kitten curled up in her arms. The tiny thing was purring like a motorboat and rubbing his head against Katara’s chin. She had walked into their apartment twenty minutes ago with the dang thing hidden in her jacket. 

“I wasn’t  _ hiding  _ him,” she’d said. “I just didn’t want him to get away!”

“Maybe he wants to go back to his  _ mother _ ,” Zuko had shot back.

“I’m his mother now!” had been her reply, and they’d been arguing about it ever since.

Well, not really arguing. They didn’t argue. They prided themselves on being able to have mature discussions. Admittedly, sometimes they were heated, but they never raised their voices to each other.

“Where did you even get him?” Zuko asked.

“I found him when I was walking home.” Katara stroked down the cat’s back. “Feel him, babe, he’s all skin and bones. He’s no one’s pet.”

“That doesn’t mean he should be  _ our  _ pet.”

Katara pouted. “Why not?”

“Because you know how I feel about animals!”

“You only don’t like them because you’ve never been around them.”

“That’s not true! I’ve been around Appa!” Appa was their friend, Aang’s, Saint Bernard. “And he’s a big, stinky dog that does nothing but drool.”

Katara rolled her eyes. “That’s because Appa is a dog. This is a cat. Cats don’t really drool. And he’s only going to be like, ten pounds,  _ tops _ .” 

“Still. He’s an animal. You have to feed them, and pay for their vet bills—”

“I get a discount at work!” Katara was a vet tech, and she had been trying—unsuccessfully—to get Zuko to let her bring home an animal since they had moved in together two years ago. 

“We’re barely home,” Zuko pointed out. “You work overtime all the time and I work nearly sixty hours a week.”

“Do you know what the solution to that is?”

“Getting rid of him?”

“ _ No. _ Getting a second cat, so he has a friend.”

Zuko slapped his hand to his forehead. “Katara,” he gritted out. “We don’t need a cat. And we definitely  _ do not  _ need  _ two  _ cats.”

“I think we do. At least one.  _ This  _ one,” Katara replied. She turned and started for the kitchen.

“What are you doing?”

“He’s hungry, so I’m going to feed him some salmon.”

“See, we don’t even have any food for it!”

“ _ Him.  _ He’s a boy.” 

Katara grabbed a can of salmon out of the cupboard. She set the kitten down on the counter and he began circling the can as she opened it, meowing hungrily.

Zuko rolled his eyes. “How do you even know it’s a boy?”

She gave him a pointed look. “Babe. I’m a vet tech. I know how to check, and it’s not like it’s hard to figure out” She grabbed a small plate out of the cupboard and forked some meat onto it. The kitten pounced on it. “Look at him. He’s starving!”

Zuko could tell he was losing this fight, but he was going to hold out until the end.

“We are totally unprepared for a cat,” Zuko said. “We don’t have food, or litter, or a bed, or anything!”

“So I’ll run to the store real quick.”

“And do what with the cat?”

“Leave him with you.”

“No way!”

“Come on, it’ll be good bonding time for you.” Katara grinned at him as she came back into the living room. “You’re his daddy now.”

Zuko frowned and scrubbed his hand down his face. “No. I’m a human. That’s biologically impossible.” His face was deadpanned and he was clearly not amused. “I am  _ not  _ his daddy.”

Katara snaked her arms around his waist and pulled him close. “Do you know how attractive it is to hear you say the word ‘daddy’? My ovaries are screaming right now.”

Zuko gave her an exasperated look.

Katara pressed on. “Besides, getting a pet is a good precursor to having kids. If we can keep a cat alive, we can keep a kid alive. And we’ve talked about having kids.”

“Yeah, in the  _ future.  _ The  _ very _ distant future.”

“Well, a cat lives on average for twelve to fifteen years. So we’ve got time.” She smirked again.

“You’re not funny, Katara,” Zuko growled.

Katara giggled and danced away from him, grabbing her coat and purse. “Yes, I am. I’m hilarious, and you know it. Now, I’m going to the store to get some stuff for this kitten. Want anything while I’m there?”

“Yeah, for you to take this cat with you and drop it back off wherever you found it.”

Katara grew serious. “Zuko, it’s Halloween. Do you know what people do to black cats on Halloween? They sacrifice them to Satan.” She crossed back to the kitchen and hoisted the kitten up, who meowed indignantly for having his meal interrupted. “Do you want this poor little guy to be sacrificed to Satan?”

Zuko exhaled hotly through his nose and chose not to answer. Katara took it as an answer anyway, and she set the kitten back down. She came back into the living room and pecked his scarred cheek. 

“I’ll be back in thirty minutes,” she said. “Love you!”

And then she was gone, and it was just Zuko and the kitten. He walked into the kitchen and scowled at it.

“And she left you on the counter,” he muttered. “That’s just great.”

Zuko grabbed the kitten and the remaining salmon and set them on the floor. He stood over and watched the kitten for a few minutes. He had to admit, it  _ was  _ kind of cute.

Before long, forty five minutes had passed and then Katara was back, saddled with everything they needed for the kitten. She found Zuko dozing on the couch with the kitten curled up on his chest. She paused in the doorway, a smile creasing her face. She knew that Zuko would come around, but she hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.

She shut the door, and Zuko’s eyes snapped open.

“Hey, Daddy,” she teased.

He scowled at her as he sat upright, cradling the kitten to his chest. “Do you even have a name for this cat? And I swear to the spirits, if you say—”

“I was thinking Shadow.”

“—Shadow, then I’m breaking up with you and taking full custody. That is  _ such  _ a stereotypical name for a black cat.”

Katara laughed as she crossed the room and set her purchases down on the counter. 

“At least I didn’t say Salem or Midnight.” She threw a look over her shoulder at him. “But fine. What do  _ you  _ suggest?”

“I...don’t know.” Zuko frowned as he stroked the kitten’s soft fur.

“Exactly. And it fits. He was a little shadow who followed me until I picked him up and brought him home. So Shadow it is.”

He let out a sigh. “Fine.” Zuko scratched the kitten’s head. He purred louder in response. “Welcome home, Shadow.”

Katara curled up in his lap and threw her arms around him, careful not to jostle the kitten. “Yay! You’re the best!”

“Yeah, yeah. But I’m still not cleaning the litter box.”


End file.
